Dimitri Belikov

"Novice Belikov." I heard my name called as the curtain was pulled back.

"Hello Headmistress Kirova, Guardian Petrov." I greeted in return.

"I am happy to see that you are doing better, but what were you thinking sneaking off like that?" Headmistress Kirova spoke, her voice calm, but carrying notes of condemnation.

"I-I don't know. I didn't much think about it. I just knew my friends were in danger." I answered.

"We won't get into that quite yet, at least until you are released from the infirmary. I do however need a few answers." She went on. "Can you tell me what happened out there?"

"Lissa somehow escaped and Rose went to help her. She told me and Christian to stay in the car, but we heard the Psi-Hounds. Before I could stop him, Christian ran out of the car, so I followed him. I heard Lissa and Rose's screams so I told Christian to stay put behind a tree, and ran to help them. All the Guardians were busy inside the house. Rose couldn't get to Lissa because one of the Psi-Hounds was attacking her. It-it launched at her, but Rose had lost her weapon so I jumped in and knocked it away from her. I saw her run towards the Princess, but I couldn't really keep up with what was going on. The Psi-Hound was attacking me. I eventually killed it though. Everything after that is a little hazy. I think I kept passing out." I told her honestly.

"Thank you Novice Belikov. That should be plenty for now. I'll leave you to rest." With a nod to Guardian Petrov, she left the room.

"Guardian Petrov?" I called out before she too could leave. "How are they?"

"You all made it back. You all will heal and hopefully learn from this." She said.

"What-" I began to ask what had happened to them but Guardian Petrov excused herself and quickly exited the room. Moments later I heard hushed voices coming from the hallway and I strained to understand what they were saying.

"This is unprecedented. I am not sure what actions need to be taken just yet. I need to wrap my mind around this. All this time, those girls have hidden this, and now – well now, I don't know what to think. I barely believed they held the bond, but this? We can't let it get out. Not just yet anyways." I heard the headmistress tell them. "Has Rosemarie awoken yet?"

"For a bit, but she fell right back to sleep. Dr. Olendzki said the medicine should wear off soon." I heard Rose's mother say. "I think I will go wait with her. I'll let you know when she is alert." Her footsteps padded a few feet away and I heard the opening and closing of a curtain. Rose was close by then.

"The princess is visiting the feeders again?" I heard the Headmistress ask.

"Yes. Once she was awake, well you saw. This hasn't happened since Saint Vladimir, Ellen. What do you think it means? The Princess was already in enough danger being the last of her family. Someone has already tried to exploit her," Guardian Petrov began.

"Yes- Yes. We must keep it quiet. She has the academy Guardians, she has Guardian Hathaway. We keep her safe. I should have listened to those girls, but I was too blinded by my anger. This school failed them, but it won't happen again." She said assuredly. "I'll be in my office. Call me once they are all awake."

With nothing else to listen in to, I closed my eyes and let sleep overtake me once again.

Rosemarie Hathaway

Everything was quiet and still. Too quiet, I thought to myself. Opening my eyes and sitting up I called out Lissa's name, only to be met with the face of my mother.

"Shh, Rose." She said as she placed a hand on my arm. "Lissa is safe. She's at the feeders. You're all safe now." She said soothingly. I paused, taken back by the worried expression she held. "Thank Vlads, you're all safe." She whispered more to herself.

"Dimitri? Christian?" I asked, not knowing if I wanted to hear the answer.

"Christian is just fine. Lissa," She paused. "Lissa healed him," she continued, shaking her head in wonderment and disbelief.

"What about Dimitri?" I asked. I really didn't want anyone dwelling on that bit of information.

"Dimitri will be okay. After we got back and Lissa awoke, she healed him as well. We are all in a bit of shock. Why did neither of you say anything? I'm her Guardian, Rose. You could have trusted me."

"We didn't know who we could trust." I answered her sadly. She gave my hand a squeeze and relaxed in her chair.

"I suppose that is beside the point now. I was so worried about you. I've never been so scared in my life. Please don't ever do anything so foolish again? Promise me." She pleaded.

"Mom, Lissa is my priority. I will always do whatever it takes to keep her safe." I told her.

"You understand so much." I barely heard her. "You are going to be a great Guardian when you graduate Rose, but you can't always rush in without some sort of plan." She said as her eyes shone with fear of whatever thought was going through her mind.

"I didn't have time to plan. Lissa needed me, and so I went." I told her. She gave me a small smile.

"Well, how about we spring you out of here?" She asked, changing the subject, her face once more expressionless.

"Can I see Lissa and the others?" I asked.

"I'm sure. They've all left the infirmary already, but I imagine they are already at breakfast. Lissa will join you guys when she is done at the feeders." She assured me.

She walked with me to the cafeteria and then left me to my friends while she went to meet up with Lissa and relieve the Guardian who was temporarily watching over her.

Breakfast was a silent affair. After giving a few evasive answers to our friends, they realized we weren't going to give any more details on what had happened other than what they had already heard. Instead, the four of us would meet one another's gaze knowingly.

"Rose, walk with me to class?" Dimitri asked. I nodded, falling behind the other novices making their way to the gym.

"About last night," He began. "I understand if you want to distance yourself from me."

"What are you talking about Dimitri?"

"I didn't realize we had been charmed. I should have known, should have protected you instead of attacking you."

"You didn't attack me and it wasn't exactly wrong. We couldn't help it. It was the spell. It affected us both."

"It doesn't matter. It was still wrong."

"Hey. It's not a big deal," I started.

"It is a big deal Rose. You weren't ready for that step yet. I took advantage of you."

"No." I said, coming to a stop in our walk. "You didn't."

"How can you say that?" He asked. His eyes took in my stance. He could always read me so well and I saw as understanding flashed in his eyes.

"Even without the spell, I may have been ready last night." I told him honestly.

"You don't know that though." He said his eyes boring into mine.

"No, not really, but do you really want to walk away from this just because of that?" I asked. My mind pleading that he didn't."

"Does it really matter what we want?" He asked me after a moment.

"What does that mean?" I asked him defensively.

"In just a few months we will graduate. You will most likely move on as Lissa's Guardian. Ivan plans on requesting me. Like you and Lissa, we've always hoped that I would become his Guardian. There really isn't a future for us. Why play in the fire when we both know we are only going to get burned?" He asked.

"Why give up on something so beautiful before we truly have too?" I countered.

"Because, Roza, if I give into you," He didn't get to finish his thought though because a Guardian joined us at that moment.

"There you two are. Headmistress Kirova would like to speak with you both." He said. I gave Dimitri a look that said our conversation was far from being over and turned towards the Guardian with a questioning glance. "Guardian Petrov and she are waiting," is all he said. I nodded my head and fell into step beside him, leaving Dimitri to follow behind us.

The meeting went quickly. They only went over the details we had already given them and soon excused Dimitri and I to join our classmates. We stepped out of Kirova's office, but I didn't feel like striking up our earlier discussion.

"I think I am going to try to get in to talk with Victor tomorrow." I told him.

"I don't think that is a good idea. He's dangerous." He grabbed my shoulder, easing me to a stop.

"You don't get to break my heart and then tell me what to do, Dimitri." I snapped at him.

"Rose." He gasped. "Do you even know if our feelings are real for one another?"

"I don't know about how you feel anymore, but I am pretty certain of what I feel."

"Are you? Can you completely rule out that our feelings are because we may have been under spells this whole time?"

"Is that what you're worried about?" My anger softened just a bit. "Is that what you truly think?"

"I don't know what to make of this whole mess. I just know what I feel right now."

"And what exactly do you feel right now?" I pushed. He must have seen something in my face because he met my gaze with one of deep and serious intensity.

"Because, I don't feel the same way anymore, it was only a spell, Rose. I'm sorry, but I am not interested in you like that." He said. My breath caught in my throat. In just a few words, he turned everything I had found beautiful and full of meaning between us into dust. Nothing laid in its wake except complete rejection. "My feelings, they weren't real. Last night and everything before it, it was only the spell. Do you understand?"

I didn't think my heart could shatter into smaller pieces than it already had. Humiliated and not wanting to make a bigger fool of myself by continuing to argue or even begging, I shrugged. "Yeah, I understand."

I fled his presence and spent the rest of the day sulking in my room. Lissa and none of my other friends could draw me out. I had impressed Kirova with my performance during the rescue and a result she had fully ended my house arrest, but ironically, I only wanted to stay inside.

The next day, I did get in to see Victor. I had more questions now more than ever. It took a lot of persuasion but luckily one of the Guardians on duty had been with our rescue mission and had witnessed some of what had happened. He allowed me to slip through under instructions that I only had five minutes to speak.

"Rose, this is a surprise." He looked up when he heard me approaching his cell. "I was under the impression I would not be allowed any visitors."

"I'm not here for a friendly chat Victor. I want you to put an end to the spell. Just let it be finished." I told him.

"What are you talking about dear?" He questioned.

"The spell you placed on me," I began, "and Dimitri." I finished after a short pause.

"The spell has already burnt itself out. It is done."

"No. It's not. I still keep thinking about him. I keep wanting…"

Victor smiled at me knowingly. "Rose, the feelings were there before I ever placed the spell."

"You're wrong. He doesn't want me anymore. He never has, and I can't stop thinking about him. It's never been this bad. My feelings have grown. Please just end the spell."

"You may not have consciously known the feelings where there, dear, but they were. The physical and mental attraction was already part of you both. The spell would not have worked otherwise. The only thing the spell did was remove any inhibitions you both held. Without any reserves, your feelings for one another strengthened, but it did not add anything new to them."

"Stop the lies, Victor. He has already told me he does not feel the same way."

"No Rose. I am telling you the spell would not have worked if that was the case. He is lying to you. If this is all you came for, perhaps you should be questioning him… and yourself. You're both Dhampir, but that shouldn't surprise me. Not where you are concerned anyhow. A little school crush between two Dhampir is something that can be forgiven in our world, but the two of you have allowed your feelings to go beyond that, into something more forbidden. You both could use lessons in how to control and hide your feelings. I was able to recognize them after just a few observations after Natalie brought it to my attention. Poor Rose, you really do have a knack for falling into the most forbidden areas of our kind."

"You really are sick. Not only for what you did to us, but for what you did to Lissa most of all."

"Oh I have no regrets my dear. I would do it again if I could. You may think of me as a monster, but I love my people. I only wanted what was in their best interest. They have no real leader. I planned to step up and become one. Now it appears that has been taken away and we are left with no one worthy." He continued on. "Vasilissa may have it in her. That is if she can overcome the influence that Spirit has on her. Those that are blessed with Spirit have two outcomes. They will either give in to the fear and depression, only to waste such a gift by often times becoming something as unholy as Strigoi. Others, though, they can become something much greater than we have ever seen. Vasilissa has that potential. She has the blood of the Dragomirs and you, Rose, her shadow-kissed Guardian. Neither are a small thing, so who knows? She may surprise us all."

"Shadow-kissed," I questioned.

"Yes, Rose, there is a name for what you are. You are kissed by the shadow of Death. You crossed into that world and returned. It was Lissa's doing and it is what forged your bond. It's rare and special, but it also marks your soul. It is why you are so reckless and all-giving in everything you do. You may not recognize it as so, but your soul does. It is why you don't hold back your feelings. It makes you more passionate and why your anger can sometimes get the best of you. It makes you a remarkable person, but it also makes you a very dangerous one."

I stood stunned and speechless. Victor seemed to realize that and he smiled approvingly.

"Yes, the two of you are extremely special and rare. Sadly this Academy is much too ignorant to see what they have in either of you. "

"It doesn't matter now. Your plan was stopped. You won't ever get what you want. Did you really think that no one would question how you mysteriously were cured? Even if no one found out about Lissa, do you honestly think they would have ever allowed you to lead our people?" I questioned.

"Hmm, you may be correct about that, but then again, it doesn't matter. Do you think that I was working alone? There are many Moroi that hold my same beliefs and that, Rose, is something you should not forget. The greatest and most powerful revolutions begin very quietly, hidden in the shadows." He seemed to have run out of words and sat eyeing me as my mind wrapped around everything he had said.

Odd sounds began to fill the room and I took a moment to look back towards the entrance. The Guardians who let me in were gone, so I craned my neck to follow the grunts and thumps.

"Finally." Victor smiled in triumph as he stood up.